In a Town
by dustytiger
Summary: Bull and Prentiss meet at one of her mother's charity events. A Prentiss/Bull stand alone.


Title: In a Town  
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger  
Rating: T (like the show to be safe)  
Disclaimer: I am a crafter on disability who does not own Bull nor Criminal Minds they belong to their network, creators, writers, actors and actresses who bring them to life every week none of which are me I'm just having some fun  
Summary: Bull and Prentiss meet at one of her mother's charity events.  
Notes: I've had this one simmering for a while, it's a stand alone, but I'm happy it's done. It's just something fun and fuzzy to get us past the pre olympic cliffies jinkies! The title comes from an Amelia Curran song, take a listen if you want. Enjoy!

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Emily Prentiss was surprised when the man with the glasses and perfect amount of scruff came over to pay for her drink. She'd noticed him when he walked in, of course she had, he was hard to miss but she had also noticed the gorgeous blonde on his arm, although they had quickly parted ways. The advantage to this event being in New York was that her mother would likely not be using it as a way to introduce her daughter to men she found suitable, the disadvantage would come in the morning depending on where she would need to meet the team when they caught a case.

"Jason," he introduced himself with a very confident smile after paying for her drink.

He had noticed her as soon as he'd walked in; she was hard to miss in the backless floor length red dress she wore. The thing he hated about formal events was how little creativity it afforded him in his own wardrobe. Chunk might be brilliant but even he could only do so much with ties when the event called for a tux. He hadn't wanted to make it obvious that he was making a beeline to her after parting ways with his friend and co-worker, Marissa Morgan, but he knew he wasn't the only man in the room who was noticing her and he didn't want to miss this opportunity to get to know hers

"Emily," she retorted, cautiously. "How does the beautiful blonde you came in with feel about you flirting with other women?"

Jason Bull was taken aback. He had taken Marissa to events like this dozens of times, he couldn't count how many women he had met at them, it's one of them; none of them had ever called him out on coming in with another woman. That certainly made this woman, Emily, far more interesting to him, he liked a challenge and this felt like she might be one. Although, she was leaning toward him showing interest in him as well, which was certainly encouraging.

"That's just my-" he paused for a moment, trying to find the right word. "Marissa."

"Your, Marissa?" she questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

"She works with- for me?"

"You're unsure?"

He fixed his tie, he felt like he was in front of a judge, but he was also ver intrigued. She was clearly his type, brunette, he assumed successful as she was attending an event such as this but she was also challenging him. He liked that a lot. She wasn't going to let him simply sweet talk her into getting what he wanted, although he suspected she wanted the same thing.

"Technically she works _for_ me," he told her. "But, she does keep my company running in a way I couldn't. It's difficult to explain."

"And you bring her along to charity events because?" she asked.

"It's rude to buy one ticket. I like to get my money's worth."

She laughed. "Fair enough."

"What about you?"

"My mother is hosting tonight's and apparently living in Virginia and being busy with work are not good enough excuses to miss an event."

He smiled, she was starting to show her cards, a little but he knew he was going to have to work to get to know her. As much as he liked being able to read people it was also nice to get know someone the old fashioned way. There was something to a challenge, it felt good.

"She sounds- intense," he told her.

"You have no idea," she laughed taking a sip of her drink.

Prentiss noticed that he seemed guarded somehow. It wasn't as if she tried to profile everyone he met, but it happened. He wasn't giving away too much. Sometimes that would raise alarm bells but with him it only intrigued her. She liked talking to a guy to get to know him instead of meeting for a moment and knowing they had nothing in common only to have to spend the rest an evening listening to prattle on about himself.

Bull had never had a problem reading anyone before, but she wasn't making it easy and he liked it. "All right, I have to ask, what do you do in Virginia?"

"I work for the Behavioural Analysis Unit at the FBI."

"That's not all that different from I do as trial consultant."

"Your job is a little bit more controlled than mine."

"Yes it is," he agreed.

Although he didn't exclusively date within the legal profession he had never seriously pursed anyone who did something as similar to him. There was something intriguing about that as well, and there would be a certain honesty between them no matter where this lead and he liked that idea.

Prentiss had never thought about dating another profiler, and she hadn't met someone who did anything similar to what she did, but it was nice to actually talk to get to know him. She wasn't looking for anything serious but she liked where this was going. There was something comforting in dating someone who understood what she did, and didn't think that she read minds or played mind games before they even got to know one another.

Meanwhile Marissa was making the rounds through the room. She knew many of the people in attendance between her current and previous jobs. She was surprised when the evening's host came over to her. They had only met briefly during her time at Homeland security when Marissa had been asked to vet one of the DSS agents being assigned to the ambassador, who had not been pleased with the change in procedure and had made her displeasure quite clear to anyone in Homeland who would listen. Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss had left a long lasting impression on Marissa who was curious as to why she was now approaching her.

"Marissa," greeted Ambassador Prentiss, shaking her hand.

"Ambassador Prentiss," Marissa said with a smile, trying to be friendly, and hide her surprise. "This is a beautiful event."

"Thank you, how have you been?"

"Good."

As soon as the two women began to interact Marissa remembered the fact she was the reason she had changed course professionally and had gone into the private sector. She was an exacting woman and was a little surprised she had even remembered her at all. Of course someone who had been around people her whole career probably did have a knack for remembering others, just like Marissa did. She knew that awkward small talk was going to follow, and she was not looking forward to it.

"Your date seems to have found my daughter," said the ambassador.

"Date?" asked Marissa, this wasn't exactly the distraction she'd wanted. "No, Doctor Bull isn't my date, he's my boss."

She immediately regretted calling him Doctor Bull and not simply Jason. The ambassador's interest in the man was clearly piqued by this. Of course she would be interested in a doctor talking to her daughter, she had heard whispers that sometimes these events turned into the ambassador trying to set her. She certainly didn't want to have to interrupt them to make the introduction, but she had a feeling that was exactly what going to happen.

"I see."

"He's a trial consultant, among the best," Marissa explained, which only seemed to further interest of the ambassador. "He's a psychologist and he uses those skills to help our clients."

"That sounds much like what Emily does, but far less dangerous."

She knew there was only one way this was going to go. "Why don't we go over and I'll introduce you?"

She could see that the ambassador was very pleased with all of this, although she wished she could dodge this bullet. This was exactly what the ambassador had wanted when she had come over to speak to her. She knew she wouldn't want to be interrupted by her nosey mother if she'd just met a guy, but she also knew how stubborn the ambassador could be; and knew that her daughter certainly would as well.

"Jason," Marissa said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Bull was surprised that Marissa was there, but something told him this wasn't her idea. The woman she was with seemed determined, and he wondered why. He heard Prentiss sigh loudly, she wanted to be surprised by this, but she wasn't this was exactly like her mother, although she wondered how she might know the woman Bull had come in with.

"This Elizabeth Prentiss, I know her from my days with Homeland Security, and she wanted to meet you. Ambassador this is Doctor Jason Bull."

"It's nice to meet you," he said shaking he hand.

"Mother," Prentiss greeted, and the two women kissed each cheek.

"I'm glad you made it Emily," the ambassador told her, sincerely, making her daughter smile, a little.

Bull could tell this was a tense situation. He reached into his pocket. "Ambassador,' he said handing her an envelope with a cheque inside.

"What's this?" she asked.

"The silent auction items didn't interest me, but it's a good cause," he explained. "Emily told me you were hosting tonight."

"I am, and thank you." She put the envelope into her clutch, to add to the other donations. "I hope she didn't make me out to be some kind of monster."

He laughed. "How could a monster have such a charming daughter? I'm sure you have a lot of guests to greet, I assure you Emily's in good hands."

To Prentiss' amazement her mother was gone a moment later. "How did you?" she asked.

"I'm good," he told her, with a sly smile.

"He's modest too," added Marissa. "I'm sorry, one second she said hi and the next we were over here."

"I understand," Prentiss assured her. "She does that."

"I'll let you two get back to…" Marissa told them her voice trailing off as she went toward the bar.

"It's a school night," Bull called after her.

She shook her head and sent him a text instead of saying out loud, that she bet lunch for a month that she would be in better shape in the morning that he would be in the morning. It wasn't as if he hadn't done this before, and although he would always power through the next day Marissa would know why he might be off his game just a little. They were both adults, and they'd each had those mornings, but it didn't hurt to make it fun

Prentiss and Bull had stayed long enough to enjoy the live band and even a few dances, but were ready to get on with the evening a bit earlier than most of the other attendees. His hand was on the small of her back as they left. When they got outside she couldn't help but shiver a little as the cool air hit her. He took his jacket off and put it over her shoulders.

She laughed. "I didn't realise guys still did that."

"I do," he told her.

She kissed him softly as the car pulled up. He grinned and opened the door for her. She smiled at him and got into inside. He closed the door and got in on the other side. The driver went to his apartment and they went inside.

She wasn't surprised by its minimal appearance. She liked that there wasn't much cutter, and there wasn't some big show of what he had from owning his own company, not that the real estate itself didn't speak to that.

"They say it has a view," he told her, leading her toward the window. "But I think views should have lakes and trees, not skylines and lights."

"I agree," she told him, running her along his chest and loosening his tie.

"I like a woman who knows what she wants," he told her.

"Good. So is this the bedroom?"

He nodded and opened the door. His room was different from the rest of the apartment, it was warmer and more welcoming. There as even a paiting above the bed, but that wasn't why they were in there. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply as he pulled her toward the bed. This was certainly not how she had expected the evening to end but she was happy about how it had. Although Bull had met women at events such as those before he still felt like this time was different and was excited to see where else this could lead, but was would be happy if this was the end of it too.

The End

Notes: So that was that, let me know what you think, hearts and hugs - Trista


End file.
